Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste has stayed at his mother’s side in France, handling her medical needs while Senator Loren Legarda receives treatment for a lung illness, her spokesperson said on Friday, September 25.
Atty. Tony La Viña described the congressman as the person now closest to the senator and the one who has taken charge of her care abroad.
“… Kasama niya si Leandro, who’s the one assisting her sa medical needs niya. As you know, Leandro is her main family now, so ‘yon ang ginagawa nila,” La Viña said.
The lawyer explained that stress tends to worsen Legarda’s condition, so she is using her time overseas to rest as well as to undergo treatment.
“Aggravated siya when there’s stress, when there’s tension. So that’s why she’s taking the opportunity to have this,” he said.
Legarda has been absent from the Senate floor since the July 29 plenary session, and her leave took effect on August 3. She has since stretched it to October 9, 2026, although La Viña said she could still be back in the chamber by November.
He said the senator is anxious to come home and that nothing prevents her from returning or from traveling out again. Because no case has been filed against her, La Viña dismissed claims that she left the country to avoid being arrested.
“She wants to come, she’s eager to come home. And very important ito ha, walang reason kung why she can’t come home or why she can’t be stopped if she wants to leave. There’s no reason [dahil] wala namang kasong nakasampa sa kanya… Hindi totoo na tumakbo siya kasi huhulihin siya the next day, hindi ganon ang proseso,” La Viña said.
Mother and son are the subjects of plunder and graft complaints tied to P10.44 billion worth of solar energy projects that were never completed. La Viña has called the Office of the Ombudsman’s investigation “lawfare” and “political persecution,” terms for turning the law into a weapon, a practice that has long been aimed at government critics and opposition figures.
Both Legarda and Leviste have rejected the accusations, and the senator has called them “false and baseless.”
